62 miles ridden – 2500 feet climbed – temperature 28C (at the end!)

Today was a day of mixed emotions. Pretty much all of us were both elated and relieved it was our last day. Over the last 10 days we have covered 751 miles without a break and our legs were feeling it but we were still having fun.

It was quite cool, even cold, when we started out and completely overcast although no rain was expected. The first 24 miles to our SAG stop was over a series of three bluffs or ridges which meant three long climbs but even on the top of the ridges the roads were undulating so it was hard work.

We eventually dropped down to the town of Prescott which had its own ‘charm’ in a guns and taxidermy kind of way.

However we almost immediately crossed the St Croix River and the State line into Minnesota (again) and arrived at our last SAG stop. With the overcast sky and a Northerly wind blowing across the river for the first time in a month I actually found myself to be cold – at least cold outdoors!

We still had 36 miles to go and as we progressed the sun came out and the day turned into a nice warm day with blue skies.

We soon started to hit the outskirts of Minneapolis/St Paul – the traffic started to increase and then we crossed the Mississippi for the last time. Awesome as ever.

The last 10 or 12 miles was largely on bike paths which gave us a welcome break from the increased traffic. Perhaps sensing the end was in sight my legs started aching and my bike started creaking (I was certainly more concerned about the bike given the fracture in the frame but I needn’t have worried). Around 3 miles from the finish line at our hotel a group was gathering for a mass arrival.

But the final section of the path was very narrow and required us to ride single file and well-spaced out so the end was not quite like our arrival in Portsmouth at the end of the cross country ride.

So I prefer to end it with a picture from that start of the day. Ernie, Paul, Lon and I ready to set out to finish our adventure.